Increasingly the public is going on-line for a variety of transactions and information. More than 30% of the population have personal computers and modems. Furthermore, over 60% of people with bank accounts have personal computers and modems. At the same time the number of people subscribing and using on-line services is greater than 40 million, and this number is growing at an exponential rate.
As the public uses computers with a greater frequency, more financial transactions are being automated and performed via computer. There is good motivation to bank on-line. On-line banking provides convenience, safety, cost savings, and potentially new types of services not readily or conveniently available via in-person banking. Such potentially new services include access to superior up-to-the minute information, on-line investment clubs, information filters, and search agents.
With the increase in the number of financial transactions performed on-line, the convenience and cost-savings of banking on-line also increases. Additionally new and more powerful methods are being developed for protecting the security of financial transactions performed on-line. The result is that convenience, cost savings and enhanced security have combined to make on-line financial services more useful and effective, thereby driving the development of newer and more integrated services. More sophisticated financial systems that offer greater integration and a high degree of user control enable on-line users to synthesize, monitor, and analyze a wide array of financial transactions and personal financial data.
Currently, methods exist for users to perform a variety of on-line financial transactions. These methods however fail to offer on-line account opening including qualification verifications. For example, users may bank on-line, thereby enabling performance of transactions, such as transfers from one account to another, but must already have the established account in the financial institution.
In view of the increase of electronic commerce in the market place the present subject matter discloses a unique on-line account opening method. The disclosed subject matter enables a stream-lined entry to an on-line banking presence.
A method is needed in which business customers may establish an on-line account, be enrolled in financial offerings as a result of qualification and verification of the qualification based on a set of criteria.
In order to obviate the deficiencies of the prior art, the present disclosure presents a novel method for interfacing with a financial institution using a computer interface. In the method a customer request is received from a customer that has reached a predetermined webpage of the financial institution using a computer network. A first content is presented to the customer, and a first input is received from the customer. If the customer is an on-line client of the financial institution then a first set of information is received from the customer for determining the same, the first set of information of the on-line client is authenticated and verified with a pre-existing client identification profile for the customer. A second set of information is received from the customer and presented back to the customer for review.
In the method, a third set of information is further received from the customer, the third set of information including the second set of information and any modification to the second set of information made by the customer upon their review. The terms and conditions are presented to the customer and an application is received from the customer. The first part of the third set of information is verified if the customer is a sole proprietor and the second part of the third set of information is verified if the customer is not a sole proprietor using a first set of predetermined criteria.
In the method, the customer's credit score is determined using a second set of predetermined criteria and a set of account options is presented to the customer, the account options presented being based at least in part on the verification of the third set of information and the customer's credit score. A second input is received from the customer; the second input is verified and it is determined if the customer is to be enrolled for a check card. The customer is processed for check card enrollment at a predefined level based at least on one or more predetermined factors.
Also in the method, it is determined if the customer is to be enrolled in a business on-line program and a merchant services program. The customer is processed for enrollment in the merchant services program at a predefined level based at least in part on one or more predetermined factors. The customer is then presented with information related to the customer's products accounts and/or enrollments.
Furthermore, the method also contemplates the implementation and use of a real time early warning system for fraud detection and identity verification during the online account opening process. The customer may undergo this real time risk screening process using the early warning system by having business rules applied to entities associated with the customer. For example, one entity associated with the customer may be identified by the business name the customer uses. Another entity may be identified by the name of the authorized representative identified by the customer. Yet another entity may be identified by the name of the signer identified by the customer. Other entities besides those listed above are contemplated by this disclosure. Of course, the “name” may also include other identifying information such as address, phone number, tax identification number, a government-issued identification number, etc. Additionally, the early warning system may differentiate between a customer who is currently an online client of the financial institution and a customer who is not currently an online client of the financial institution.
In a typical prior art financial institution online interfacing process, fraud detection and identity verification of a customer opening an online account may not take place until sometime after the online account has been opened and is accessible to the customer. Obviously, this puts the financial institution in a position of unnecessarily heightened risk. Earlier fraud detection and identity verification processes are necessary to reduce this unnecessary risk to the financial institution. Otherwise a fraudster may have access to a fraudulently-obtained online account before the account is shut down.
These and many other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains from a perusal of the claims, the appended drawings, and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.